Synopsis

Controlled by her mother and her bizarre teachings, an inquisitive girl is convinced her dead father will soon resurrect. Certain he has died to test their love for him, the two must prove how much they miss him and show no doubt of his return. However, when the corpse begins to rot, the girl is forced to reconsider the situation and decides to act alone to ensure her father will come back to life.

Director's Note

Home Education explores fear and belief and how they can shape our perception and experience of the world around us. The characters inhabit a world within a world, in which the bizarre rules and convictions they've created have become their universe. Frightened of what they don’t accept nor understand, they have constructed an absurd lifestyle that constantly fights and attempts to explain it.

One of the things that interests me most is the suggestion that perhaps, these characters that appear so unhinged, might ultimately be speaking the truth.

Home Education is the result of a year of uninterrupted work. Starting with a feature script, (which we will hopefully shoot at some point in the future!) we worked on narrowing the story down to something which would function as a short film, as well as giving the sense of a much larger world inhabited by the characters. The crew worked tirelessly at this, creating most of what you see from scratch, from the clothes worn by the characters to the decor, which helps give the film a very unique and distinctive quality.

Trivia

- The film was shot almost entirely on location in two cottages in Godmersham Park Estate, Kent, Uk. Built in 1732, Godmersham Park House was once owned by Edward Austen Knight, Jane Austen's brother. Jane Austen frequently visited the estate and is rumoured to have written some of her work there.

- The sequences shot in a studio involved a large wooden table, a paper mâché model and over 100,000 real, dried flies.

- There are no tricks involved in the film's final scene. Andrea practiced the stunt various times on himself to make sure that it was safe!

- The film's catering was lovingly provided by the director and producer's mothers, who are professional cooks. We still miss their food...